Simone Martini (c. 1284 – 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style.

It is thought that Martini was a pupil of Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leading Sienese painter of his time. According to late Renaissance art biographer Giorgio Vasari, Simone was instead a pupil of Giotto di Bondone, with whom he went to Rome to paint at the Old St. Peter's Basilica, Giotto also executing a mosaic there. Martini's brother-in-law was the artist Lippo Memmi. Very little documentation of Simone's life survives, and many attributions are debated by art historians.

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Simone was doubtlessly apprenticed from an early age, as would have been the normal practice. Among his first documented works is the Maestà of 1315 in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. A copy of the work, executed shortly thereafter by Lippo Memmi in San Gimignano, testifies to the enduring influence Simone's prototypes would have on other artists throughout the 14th century. Perpetuating the Sienese tradition, Simone's style contrasted with the sobriety and monumentality of Florentine art, and is noted for its soft, stylized, decorative features, sinuosity of line, and courtly elegance. Simone's art owes much to French manuscript illumination and ivory carving: examples of such art were brought to Siena in the fourteenth century by means of the Via Francigena, a main pilgrimage and trade route from Northern Europe to Rome.

1.
Petrarch
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Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarchs rediscovery of Ciceros letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Renaissance, Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarchs works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, Petrarch would be later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca. Petrarchs sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and he is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the Dark Ages. This standing back from his time was possible because he straddled two worlds—the classical and his own modern day, Petrarch was born in the Tuscan city of Arezzo in 1304. He was the son of Ser Petracco and his wife Eletta Canigiani and his given name was Francesco Petracco. The name was Latinized to Petrarca, Petrarchs younger brother was born in Incisa in Val dArno in 1307. Dante was a friend of his father, Petrarch spent his early childhood in the village of Incisa, near Florence. He spent much of his life at Avignon and nearby Carpentras. He studied law at the University of Montpellier and Bologna with a lifelong friend, because his father was in the profession of law he insisted that Petrarch and his brother study law also. Petrarch however was interested in writing and Latin literature and considered these seven years wasted. Additionally he proclaimed that through legal manipulation his guardians robbed him of his small property inheritance in Florence and he protested, I couldnt face making a merchandise of my mind, as he viewed the legal system as the art of selling justice. Petrarch was a letter writer and counted Boccaccio among his notable friends to whom he wrote often. After the death of their parents, Petrarch and his brother Gherardo went back to Avignon in 1326 and this work gave him much time to devote to his writing. With his first large work, Africa, an epic in Latin about the great Roman general Scipio Africanus. On April 8,1341, he became the poet laureate since antiquity and was crowned by Roman Senatori Giordano Orsini. He traveled widely in Europe, served as an ambassador, and has called the first tourist because he traveled just for pleasure. During his travels, he collected crumbling Latin manuscripts and was a mover in the recovery of knowledge from writers of Rome

2.
Siena
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Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena, the historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nations most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008, Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year. Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans when it was inhabited by a called the Saina. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus, the first document mentioning it dates from AD70. Some archaeologists assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Senones, according to local legend, Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus and thus nephews of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Supposedly after their fathers murder by Romulus, they fled Rome, taking them the statue of the she-wolf suckling the infants. Additionally they rode white and black horses, giving rise to the Balzana, some claim the name Siena derives from Senius. Other etymologies derive the name from the Etruscan family name Saina, Siena did not prosper under Roman rule. It was not sited near any major roads and lacked opportunities for trade and its insular status meant that Christianity did not penetrate until the 4th century AD, and it was not until the Lombards invaded Siena and the surrounding territory that it knew prosperity. Siena prospered as a trading post, and the constant streams of pilgrims passing to, the oldest aristocratic families in Siena date their line to the Lombards surrender in 774 to Charlemagne. This ultimately resulted in the creation of the Republic of Siena, the Republic existed for over four hundred years, from the late 11th century until the year 1555. During the golden age of Siena before the Black Death in 1348, in the Italian War of 1551–59, the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown. After 18 months of resistance, Siena surrendered to Spain on 17 April 1555, the new Spanish King Felipe II, owing huge sums to the Medici, ceded it to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until the unification of Italy in the 19th century. A Republican government of 700 Sienese families in Montalcino resisted until 1559, the picturesque city remains an important cultural centre, especially for humanist disciplines. The city lies at 322 m above sea level, the Siena Cathedral, begun in the 12th century, is a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture. Its main façade was completed in 1380, the original plan called for an ambitiously massive basilica, the largest then in the world, with, as was customary, an east-west nave. However, the scarcity of funds, in due to war and plague, truncated the project

3.
Republic of Siena
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The Republic of Siena was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It existed for four hundred years, from 1125 to 1555. In the Italian War of 1551–59 the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown, after 18 months of resistance, Republic of Siena surrendered to the Spanish Empire on 21 April 1555, marking the end of the republic. The oldest aristocratic families in Siena date their line to the Lombards surrender in 774 to Charlemagne, Siena prospered as a city-state, becoming a major centre of money lending and an important player in the wool trade. It was governed at first directly by its bishop, but episcopal power declined during the 12th century, by 1179, it had a written constitution. In 1286 the Nova government was established to rule Siena, the Nova was backed by the Noveschi, a political party formed by the noble families that sat on the council. Eventually, the Noveschi Party grew to not only include members of the Nova council. Under the guide of the Nova and the Noveschi, Siena grew in economic and militaristic dominance. In the 13th century, Siena was predominantly Ghibelline, in opposition to Florences Guelph position, on 4 September 1260 the Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of King Manfred of Sicily, defeated the Florentine Guelphs in the Battle of Montaperti. Before the battle, the Sienese army of around 20,000 faced a much larger Florentine army of around 33,000, prior to the battle, the entire city was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The man given command of Siena for the duration of the war, Bonaguida Lucari, walked barefoot and bareheaded, leading a procession composed of all the citys residents, he was met by all the clergy. Lucari and the bishop embraced to show the unity of church and state, then Lucari formally gave the city, legend has it that a thick white cloud descended on the battlefield, giving the Sienese cover and aiding their attack. Almost half the Florentine army were killed as a result, so crushing was the defeat that even today if the two cities meet in any sporting event, the Sienese supporters are likely to exhort their Florentine counterparts to Remember Montaperti. Siena was devastated by the Black Death of 1348, and also suffered from ill-fated financial enterprises. In 1355, with the arrival of Charles IV of Luxembourg in the city and they established a Dodici, assisted by a council with a popular majority. Only five years later, the House of Visconti was expelled in 1404, and a new government of Ten Priors was established, this time in alliance with Florence against King Ladislaus of Naples. In 1472 the Siena magistrates founded a mount of piety, the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena - which would survive into the 21st Century, the Noveschi returned to the city under Pandolfo Petrucci in 1487. Though a tyrant, Pandolfo brought Siena back to prosperity, favoring arts and sciences, Pandolfo was succeeded by his son Borghese Petrucci

4.
Avignon
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Avignon is a commune in south-eastern France in the department of Vaucluse on the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 90,194 inhabitants of the city, about 12,000 live in the ancient town centre enclosed by its medieval ramparts. Between 1309 and 1377, during the Avignon Papacy, seven popes resided in Avignon. Papal control persisted until 1791 when, during the French Revolution, the town is now the capital of the Vaucluse department and one of the few French cities to have preserved its ramparts. The historic centre, which includes the Palais des Papes, the cathedral, the medieval monuments and the annual Festival dAvignon have helped to make the town a major centre for tourism. The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns, the earliest forms of the name were reported by the Greeks, Аὐενιὼν = Auenion Άουεννίων = Aouennion. The Roman name Avennĭo Cavarum, i. e. Avignon of Cavares accurately shows that Avignon was one of the three cities of the Celtic-Ligurian tribe of Cavares, along with Cavaillon and Orange. The current name dates to a pre-Indo-European or pre-Latin theme ab-ên with the suffix -i-ōn This theme would be a hydronym - i. e. a name linked to the river, but perhaps also an oronym of terrain. The site of Avignon has been occupied since the Neolithic period as shown by excavations at Rocher des Doms and the Balance district. In 1960 and 1961 excavations in the part of the Rocher des Doms directed by Sylvain Gagnière uncovered a small anthropomorphic stele. Carved in Burdigalian sandstone, it has the shape of a tombstone with its face engraved with a stylized human figure with no mouth. On the bottom, shifted slightly to the right is an indentation with eight radiating lines forming a solar representation - a unique discovery for this type of stele. There were also some Chalcolithic objects for adornment and an abundance of Hallstatt pottery shards which could have been native or imported, the name of the city dates back to around the 6th century BC. The first citation of Avignon was made by Artemidorus of Ephesus, although his book, The Journey, is lost it is known from the abstract by Marcian of Heraclea and The Ethnics, a dictionary of names of cities by Stephanus of Byzantium based on that book. He said, The City of Massalia, near the Rhone and this name has two interpretations, city of violent wind or, more likely, lord of the river. Other sources trace its origin to the Gallic mignon and the Celtic definitive article, Avignon was a simple Greek Emporium founded by Phocaeans from Marseille around 539 BC. It was in the 4th century BC that the Massaliotes began to sign treaties of alliance with some cities in the Rhone valley including Avignon and Cavaillon, a century later Avignon was part of the region of Massaliotes or country of Massalia. Fortified on its rock, the city later became and long remained the capital of the Cavares, with the arrival of the Roman legions in 120 BC. the Cavares, allies with the Massaliotes, became Roman

5.
Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois

6.
Duccio
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Duccio di Buoninsegna was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. He is considered to be the father of Sienese painting and, along with a few others and he was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Duccio is credited with creating the painting styles of Trecento and the Sienese school, although much is still unconfirmed about Duccio and his life, there is more documentation of him and his life than of other Italian painters of his time. It is known that he was born and died in the city of Siena, other details of his early life and family are as uncertain, as much else in his history. One avenue to reconstructing Duccios biography are the traces of him in archives that list when he ran up debts or incurred fines, some records say he was married with 7 children. The relative abundance of archival mentions has led historians to believe that he had difficulties managing his life, another route to filling in Duccios biography are by analyzing the works that can be attributed to him with certainty. Information can be obtained by analyzing his style, the date and location of the works, due to gaps where Duccios name goes unmentioned in the Sienese records for years at a time, scholars speculate he may have traveled to Paris, Assisi and Rome. Nevertheless, his talents were enough to overshadow his lack of organization as a citizen. In the 14th century Duccio became one of the most favored, where Duccio studied, and with whom, is still a matter of great debate, but by analyzing his style and technique art historians have been able to limit the field. Little is known of his career prior to his first documented commission. In 1278, at the age of 23, he was hired to paint 12 wooden panels to cover government documents for The Nine, although Duccio was active from 1268 to about 1311 only approximately 13 of his works survive today. Furthermore, of Duccios surviving works, only two can be securely dated, Duccios known works are on wood panel, painted in egg tempera and embellished with gold leaf. Different from his contemporaries and artists before him, Duccio was a master of tempera and managed to conquer the medium with delicacy, there is no clear evidence that Duccio painted frescoes. Duccio’s style was similar to Byzantine art in ways, with its gold backgrounds and familiar religious scenes, however it was also different. Duccio began to break down the lines of Byzantine art. He used modeling to reveal the figures underneath the heavy drapery, hands, faces, duccio’s paintings are inviting and warm with color. His pieces consisted of many details and were sometimes inlaid with jewels or ornamental fabrics. Duccio was also noted for his organization of space

7.
Painting
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Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, gesture, composition, narration, or abstraction, among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive, Paintings can be naturalistic and representational, photographic, abstract, narrative, symbolistic, emotive, or political in nature. A portion of the history of painting in both Eastern and Western art is dominated by motifs and ideas. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action, the term painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity, every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In practice, painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity, thus, the basic means of painting are distinct from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization, and symbols. In technical drawing, thickness of line is ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters. Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are the essence of music, color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover, the use of language is only an abstraction for a color equivalent, the word red, for example, can cover a wide range of variations from the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic, painters deal practically with pigments, so blue for a painter can be any of the blues, phthalocyanine blue, Prussian blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological and symbolical meanings of color are not, strictly speaking, colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this, the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in music is analogous to light in painting, shades to dynamics and these elements do not necessarily form a melody of themselves, rather, they can add different contexts to it. Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, as one example, collage, some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer, there is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required, rhythm is important in painting as it is in music

8.
Fresco
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Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting. Buon fresco pigment mixed with water of temperature on a thin layer of wet, fresh plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster. Because of the makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, after a number of hours, many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia, a name also used to refer to these under-paintings. Later, new techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of a drawing made on paper were pricked over with a point, the paper held against the wall, if the painting was to be done over an existing fresco, the surface would be roughened to provide better adhesion. This area is called the giornata, and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, if mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later, a secco. An indispensable component of this process is the carbonatation of the lime, the eyes of the people of the School of Athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark outlining of his central figures within his frescoes, in a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After five centuries, the giornate, which were nearly invisible, have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes. Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by an a secco painting, which has fallen off. One of the first painters in the period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist, a secco or fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster. The pigments thus require a medium, such as egg. Blue was a problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli. By the end of the century this had largely displaced buon fresco

9.
Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus
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The Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus is a painting by the Italian Gothic artists Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. It is a triptych painted in tempera and gold, with a central panel having double size. Considered Martinis masterwork and one of the most outstanding works of Gothic painting and these included the Presentation at the Temple by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, the Nativity of the Virgin by Pietro Lorenzetti, and a Nativity, now disassembled, attributed to Bartolomeo Bulgarini from 1351. All the paintings should represent stories of the Life of the Madonna, the artists use of expensive lacquer, extensive gold leafing and the difficult to obtain lapis lazuli in the painting demonstrates the communal prestige of the commission. The date of the painting is specified in a fragment of the original frame and it lists the name of Simone Martini and his brother-in-law Lippo Memmi, although it is unknown which parts they executed. A hypothesis is that Martini painted the panel, while Memmi was responsible of the side saints. The work, in size and style, has no similarities with any other contemporary painting in Italy. It can be compared instead to French illuminated manuscripts of that time, the painting remained in the cathedral until 1799, when Grand Duke Peter Leopold had it moved to Florence in exchange of two canvasses by Luca Giordano. The original frame, carved by Paolo di Camporegio and gilt by Memmi, was renovated in 1420, the Annunciation shows the archangel Gabriel entering the house of the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will soon bear the child Jesus, whose name means savior. Gabriel holds a branch in his hand, a traditional symbol of peace. The dove is descending from heaven, from the center of the mandorla of eight angels above, in fact, along the path of the dove, viewers see Gabriels utterance, ave gratia plena dominvs tecvm. The angels mantle shows a detailed tartar cloth pattern and fine gilt feathers, Mary, sitting on a throne, is portrayed at the moment that she is startled out of her reading, reacting with a graceful and composed reluctance, looking with surprise at the celestial messenger. Her dress has an arabesque-like pattern, at the sides, the two patrons saints of the cathedral are separated by the central scene by two decorate twisting columns. The background, completely gilt, has a vase of lilies, Presentation at the Temple by Ambrogio Lorenzetti Fossi, Gloria. Media related to Annunciation by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence at Wikimedia Commons High resolution image via the Google Art Project

10.
International Gothic
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International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which initially developed in Burgundy, France and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period. The main influences were northern France, the Duchy of Burgundy, the Imperial court in Prague, royal marriages such as that between Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia helped to spread the style. It was initially a style of courtly sophistication, but somewhat more robust versions spread to art commissioned by the mercantile classes. Usage of the terms by art historians varies somewhat, with using the term more restrictively than others. Some art historians feel the term is in many ways, since it tends to skate over both differences and details of transmission. The important Bohemian version of the style developed in the court of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in Prague, which for a brief period became a leading force in the development of European art. Charles came from the Luxembourg dynasty, was tutored by the future Pope Clement VI, the Bohemian style initially lacked the elongated figures of other centres, but had a richness and sweetness in female figures that were very influential. Charles had at least one Italian altarpiece, apparently made in Italy and sent to Prague, for St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, he first used a French architect, and then the German Peter Parler. As the style developed in Northern Europe, Italian artists were in turn influenced by it, from this period come the earliest surviving panel portraits of monarchs, and royal manuscripts show a greatly increased number of realistic portraits of the monarch who commissioned them. In painting and sculpture, the style is known in German as the Schöne Stil or Weicher Stil. Stylistic features are a dignified elegance, which replaces monumentality, along with rich decorative colouring, elongated figures and it also makes a more practised use of perspective, modelling, and setting. Figures begin to be more space in their settings, and interest is taken in realistically depicted plants. In some works, above all the calendar scenes of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Decoration became increasingly ornate as the style developed in Northern Europe, claus Sluter was the leading sculptor in Burgundy, and was one artist able to use the style with a strongly monumental effect. Most sculptors are unknown, and the style tended to survive longer in Northern sculpture than painting, smaller painted wood figures, most often of the Madonna, were significant, and being relatively portable, probably helped to disseminate the style across Europe. In Burgundy Jean Malouel, Melchior Broederlam and Henri Bellechose were succeeded by Robert Campin, master Bertram and Conrad von Soest were leading regional masters in Germany, working largely for city burghers. Surviving panel paintings of the best quality from before 1390 are very rare except from Italy, many of these artists moved between countries or regions during their careers, exposing them to the styles of other centres

11.
Giorgio Vasari
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Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Recommended at an age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia. He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own, in 1529, he visited Rome where he studied the works of Raphael and other artists of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasaris own Mannerist paintings were admired in his lifetime than afterwards. In 1547 he completed the hall of the chancery in Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome with frescoes that received the name Sala dei Cento Giorni and he was consistently employed by members of the Medici family in Florence and Rome, and worked in Naples, Arezzo and other places. He also helped to organize the decoration of the Studiolo, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio, aside from his career as a painter, Vasari was also successful as an architect. In Florence, Vasari also built the long passage, now called Vasari Corridor, the enclosed corridor passes alongside the River Arno on an arcade, crosses the Ponte Vecchio and winds around the exterior of several buildings. He also renovated the medieval churches of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, at both he removed the original rood screen and loft, and remodelled the retro-choirs in the Mannerist taste of his time. In Santa Croce, he was responsible for the painting of The Adoration of the Magi which was commissioned by Pope Pius V in 1566 and it was recently restored, before being put on exhibition in 2011 in Rome and in Naples. Eventually it is planned to return it to the church of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo, in 1562 Vasari built the octagonal dome on the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia, an important example of high Renaissance architecture. In Rome, Vasari worked with Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammanati at Pope Julius IIIs Villa Giulia, the Lives also included a novel treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts. The book was rewritten and enlarged in 1568, with the addition of woodcut portraits of artists. The work has a consistent and notorious bias in favour of Florentines, and tends to attribute to them all the developments in Renaissance art – for example, Venetian art in particular, is systematically ignored in the first edition. Between the first and second editions, Vasari visited Venice and while the edition gave more attention to Venetian art. Vasaris biographies are interspersed with amusing gossip, with a few exceptions, however, Vasaris aesthetic judgement was acute and unbiased. He did not research archives for exact dates, as art historians do, and naturally his biographies are most dependable for the painters of his own generation. Modern criticism – with new materials opened up by research – has corrected many of his traditional dates and attributions. Vasari includes a sketch of his own biography at the end of the Lives, according to the historian Richard Goldthwaite, Vasari was one of the earliest authors to use the term competition in its economic sense

12.
Giotto
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Giotto di Bondone, known mononymously as Giotto and Latinized as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. He is generally considered the first in a line of artists who contributed to the Renaissance. Giottos masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, also known as the Arena Chapel and this fresco cycle depicts the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ. It is regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Early Renaissance. That Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and that he was chosen by the Commune of Florence in 1334 to design the new campanile of Florences Cathedral are among the few certainties of his biography. Tradition holds that Giotto was born in a farmhouse, perhaps at Colle di Romagnano or Romignano, since 1850, a tower house in nearby Colle Vespignano has borne a plaque claiming the honor of his birthplace, an assertion commercially publicized. However, recent research has suggested that he was born in Florence. His fathers name was Bondone, and he is described in surviving records as a person of good standing. Most authors accept that Giotto was his name, but it is likely to have been an abbreviation of Ambrogio or Angelo. The year of his birth is calculated from the fact that Antonio Pucci, however, the word seventy fits into the rhyme of the poem better than would have a longer and more complex age, so it is possible that Pucci used artistic license. In his Lives, Giorgio Vasari states that Giotto was a shepherd boy, the great Florentine painter Cimabue discovered Giotto drawing pictures of his sheep on a rock. They were so lifelike that Cimabue approached Giotto and asked if he could take him on as an apprentice, Cimabue was one of the two most highly renowned painters of Tuscany, the other being Duccio, who worked mainly in Siena. Vasari recounts a number of stories about Giottos skill as a young artist. He tells of one occasion when Cimabue was absent from the workshop, later when Cimabue returned, he tried in vain several times to brush the fly off. The messenger departed ill pleased, not doubting that he had made a fool of. The messenger brought other artists drawings back to the Pope in addition to Giottos, many scholars today are uncertain about Giottos training, and consider Vasaris account that he was Cimabues pupil as legend, citing earlier sources which suggest that Giotto was not Cimabues pupil. About 1290, Giotto married Ciuta, the daughter of Lapo del Pela of Florence, the marriage produced four daughters and four sons, one of whom became a painter. By 1301, Giotto owned a house in Florence, and when he was not traveling he would return there and live in comfort with his family

13.
Old St. Peter's Basilica
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Old St. Peters Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, on the spot where the new St. Peters Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the site of the Circus of Nero. The name old St. Peters Basilica has been used since the construction of the current basilica to distinguish the two buildings, construction began by orders of the Roman Emperor Constantine I between 318 and 322, and took about 30 years to complete. Over the next centuries, the church gradually gained importance. Papal coronations were held at the basilica, and in 800, in 846, Saracens sacked and damaged the basilica. The raiders seem to have known about Romes extraordinary treasures, some holy – and impressive – basilicas, such as St. Peters Basilica, were outside the Aurelian walls, and thus easy targets. They were filled to overflowing with rich liturgical vessels and with jeweled reliquaries housing all of the relics recently amassed, as a result, the raiders pillaged the holy shrine. In response Pope Leo IV built the Leonine wall and rebuilt the parts of St. Peters that had been damaged, in 1099, Urban II convened a council including St Anselm. Among other topics, it repeated the bans on lay investiture, by the 15th century the church was falling into ruin. Discussions on repairing parts of the structure commenced upon the return from Avignon. The whole stretch of wall has been pierced by too many openings, as a result, the continual force of the wind has already displaced the wall more than six feet from the vertical, I have no doubt that eventually some. Slight movement will make it collapse, at first Pope Julius II had every intention of preserving the old building, but his attention soon turned toward tearing it down and building a new structure. Many people of the time were shocked by the proposal, as the building represented papal continuity going back to Peter, the original altar was to be preserved in the new structure that housed it. Constantine went to pains to build the basilica on the site of Saint Peters grave. The Vatican Hill, on the west bank of the Tiber River, was leveled. Notably, since the site was outside the boundaries of the ancient city, the exterior however, unlike earlier pagan temples, was not lavishly decorated. The church was capable of housing from 3,000 to 4,000 worshipers at one time and it consisted of five aisles, a wide central nave and two smaller aisles to each side, which were each divided by 21 marble columns, taken from earlier pagan buildings. It was over 350 feet long, built in the shape of a Latin cross, and had a roof which was timbered on the interior

14.
Lippo Memmi
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Lippo Memmi was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law and he was one of the artists who worked at Orvieto Cathedral, for which he finished the Virgin of Mercy. Later he followed Martini to the Papal court in Avignon, where he worked until the mid-14th century, after his return to Siena, Memmi continued to work until his death in 1356. Memmis famed artwork, La Madonna della Febbre was the first venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary granted with a Canonical coronation by a Pope on 27 May 1631. The image has long been since held miraculous and is enshrined at the Sacristy chapel of the Blessed Sacrament inside Saint Peters Basilica in Rome, Memmis figures retain the static and generally frontal view found in the earlier generation of late Duecento masters such as Guido da Siena. A description of his St. Agnes panel shows how Memmis pictorial style was less severe and angular than the Duecento works his imagery recalled, “. has softer qualities and its spirit is tranquil”. Indeed, his depiction of emotion and realism is also subdued by this soft tranquility, leaving figures to read as somewhat archaic, Memmi is remembered for distinctive stamped tin halos with ray patterns in gold leaf. This interest in design carries over to Memmis observation of fabric patterns, Memmis interest in detail is evident in his innovative compositional devices using simple geometric shapes such as the circular arrangement of the angels in the Assumption of the Virgin. The term “Lippesque, coined by Joseph Polzer, describes the effect of Memmis visual devices found in several Madonna. “The seated Christ Child in the image, and especially his head which is axially and frontally ordered. Heads close to spheroid in shape and share a large forehead crowned by an identical centrally located whirl of hair”. Thus, a complete understanding of his style and artistic achievements continues to emerge. His status as an artist of personal expression, rather simply a craftsman. Research in the 1920s began to separate the works of Lippo Memmi from those of Guido da Siena and it was also accepted that an artist bearing the name Barna was a fellow student under Simone Martini and an artistic collaborator with Memmi. The New Testament cycle of frescos in the Collegiate Church of San Gimignano and this suggests that other works attributed to Barna could be works of Memmi and thus his stylistic adherence to Simone Martini is less binding. The Memmi workshop began with Lippos father, Memmo di Filippucci and its early works, such as the 1317 San Gimignano Maestà in the Palazzo Comunale, are a collaboration of the two. In the 1330s the shop produced the Orvieto Polyptych panels, Lippos brother Federigo Memmi belonged to the shop before 1343, during the time the New testament cycle and other works attributed to Barna of Siena were produced. Simone Martini was the brother-in-law of Lippo, after Lippo returned to Siena from Avignon there is little evidence of interaction with Simone Martini

15.
Palazzo Pubblico
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The Palazzo Pubblico is a palace in Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. Construction began in 1297 and its purpose was to house the republican government, consisting of the Podestà. The outside of the structure is an example of Italian medieval architecture with Gothic influences, the lower story is stone, the upper crenelatted stories are made of brick. The facade of the palace is curved inwards to reflect the outwards curve of the Piazza del Campo. The campanile or bell tower, Torre del Mangia, was built between 1325 and 1344 with its crown designed by the painter, Lippo Memmi. The tower was designed to be taller than the tower in neighboring rival Florence and it was fitted with a mechanical clock during the mid-14th century. Nearly every major room in the palace contains frescoes and these were unusual for the time in that they were commissioned by the governing body of the city, rather than by the Church or by a religious fraternity. They are also unusual in many of them depict secular subjects instead of the religious subjects which are overwhelmingly typical of Italian art of this era. The most famous of the frescoes are three panels in the series on government in the Hall of the Nine by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. These frescoes are collectively known as The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, the Allegory of Good Government depicts the personification of Justice as a woman. She gestures to the scales of balance, held by the personification of Wisdom floating over her throne, on the viewers left, a convicted criminal is beheaded, on the right, figures receive the rewards of justice. The men face towards the largest figure in the image, a located in the center right. The judge is surrounded by additional personifications including Peace, who is represented as a fashionable, the allegory carries a strong social message of the value of the stable republican government of Siena. It combines elements of life with references to the importance of religion in the city at the time. The figure of Justice resembles the figure of Mary, Queen of Heaven, the Judge reflects the tradition in the Christian Last Judgment to have God or Christ judging the saved on the left, the damned on the right. While classified as medieval or proto -renaissance art, these show a transition in thought. Flanking the Allegory are two paintings on perpendicular walls, Effects of Good Government and Effects of Bad Government. Both these frescoes depict a view of Siena and its countryside

16.
San Gimignano
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San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Within the walls, the buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant Agostino contain frescos, the Historic Centre of San Gimignano, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the 3rd century BC a small Etruscan village stood on the site of San Gimignano. The name of Silvia was changed to San Gimignano in 450 AD after Bishop Geminianus, from 929 the town was ruled by the bishops of Volterra. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era, it was a point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome. In 1199, the city made itself independent of the bishops of Volterra and established a podestà, however, the peace of the town was disturbed for the next two centuries by conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines, and family rivalries. This resulted in families building tower houses of increasing height, towards the end of the Medieval period they were 72 in number and up to 70 metres tall. The rivalry was finally restrained when it was ordained by the council that no tower was to be taller than that adjacent to the Palazzo Comunale. While the official patron is Saint Geminianus, the town also honours Saint Fina, known also as Seraphina and Serafina, the Chapel of Santa Fina in the Collegiate Church houses her shrine and frescos by Ghirlandaio. The house said to be her home stands in the town. On 8 May 1300, San Gimignano hosted Dante Alighieri in his role as ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany, the city flourished until 1348, when it was struck by the Black Death that affected all of Europe, and about half the townsfolk died. The town submitted to the rule of Florence, initially, some Gothic palazzi were built in the Florentine style, and many of the towers were reduced to the height of the houses. There was little subsequent development, and San Gimignano remained preserved in its medieval state until the 19th century, the city is on the ridge of a hill with its main axis being north/south. It is encircled by three walls and has at its highest point, to the west, the ruins of a fortress dismantled in the 16th century, there are eight entrances into the city, set into the second wall, which dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. The main gates are Porta San Giovanni on the ridge extending south, Porta San Matteo to the north west, the main streets are Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni, which cross the city from north to south. At the heart of the town are four squares, the Piazza Duomo, on which stands the Collegiate Church, the Piazza della Cisterna, the Piazza Pecori and the Piazza delle Erbe. To the north of the town is another significant square, Piazza Agostino, the locations of the Collegiate Church and Sant Agostinos and their piazzas effectively divide the town into two regions

17.
Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered

18.
Illuminated manuscript
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An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders and miniature illustrations. Comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted, islamic manuscripts may be referred to as illuminated, illustrated or painted, though using essentially the same techniques as Western works. This article covers the technical, social and economic history of the subject, for an art-historical account, the earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period 400 to 600, produced in the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire. The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent artistic and historical value, had it not been for the monastic scribes of Late Antiquity, most literature of Greece and Rome would have perished in Europe. As it was, the patterns of textual survivals were shaped by their usefulness to the severely constricted literate group of Christians, the majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many survive from the Renaissance, along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity. The majority of manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from the 13th century onward, a number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices, which had superseded scrolls, a very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus, which does not last nearly as long as vellum or parchment. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment, beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on paper. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century, Manuscripts are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages, many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. There are a few examples from later periods, the type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a display book, varied between periods. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles – one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it. Many Psalters were also illuminated in both this and the Gothic period. Finally, the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal book of a wealthy layperson, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period. Other books, both liturgical and not, continued to be illuminated at all periods, the Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. See Medieval art for other regions, periods and types, reusing parchments by scraping the surface and reusing them was a common practice, the traces often left behind of the original text are known as palimpsests. The Gothic period, which saw an increase in the production of these beautiful artifacts, also saw more secular works such as chronicles

19.
Via Francigena
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As such, the route passes through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. The route was known in Italy as the Via Francigena or the Via Romea Francigena, in mediaeval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route for those wishing to visit the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul. In the Middle Ages, Via Francigena was the pilgrimage route to Rome from the north. It was Via Francigena-Francisca in Italy and Burgundy, the Chemin des Anglois in the Frankish Kingdom and also the Chemin Romieux, the name Via Francigena is first mentioned in the Actum Clusio, a parchment of 876 in the Abbey of San Salvatore al Monte Amiata. Later itineraries to Rome include the Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan of the Icelandic traveller Nikolás Bergsson, two somewhat differing maps of the route appear in manuscripts of Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum, from the 13th century. Reports of journeys before Sigeric can only be apocryphal and we may be quite certain that the Benedictine William of St-Thierry, used the roads towards Rome on several occasions at the end of the 11th century. The return journey by sea was likely to be easier, thanks to the prevailing south-westerly winds, a statement that a historical figure died in Rome may have been a historical falsity, but a metaphorical truth. The Via Francigena was not a road, like a Roman road, paved with stone blocks. Rather, it comprised several possible routes that changed over the centuries as trade, the Lombards financed the maintenance and security of the section of road through their territories as a trading route to the north from Rome, avoiding enemy-held cities such as Florence. Another important point is that unlike Roman roads, the Via Francigena did not connect cities, circa 990 AD, Archbishop Sigeric journeyed from Canterbury to Rome and then back again but only documented his itinerary on the return journey. Sigerics return journey consisted of 80 stages averaging about 20 km a day, from Saint-Maurice they must traverse the Great St. James pilgrims route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Roughly 1,200 pilgrims were estimated to have walked the VF in 2012, one reason for this is a lack of infrastructure and suitable support facilities. Affordable pilgrims accommodation and other facilities can be hard to come by for those traveling along the route, however increasingly in Italy, some monasteries and religious houses offer dedicated pilgrims accommodation. These are called spedali and — like the refugios found on the Way of St. James in France and Spain — they offer cheap, spedali accept pilgrims who bear a valid credenziale, usually for one night only. Some places offer meals as well, only a few decades ago, interest in the Via Francigena was limited to scholars. This began to change in recent years many who, after travelling the Way of St. James in Spain. In Italy, this gave birth to a network of lovers of the Via Francigena and these people were joined by religious and local government agencies who also tried to recover the original route. Where possible todays route follows the ancient one but sometimes it deviates from the path in favour of paths

20.
Museo di Capodimonte
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Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting. It is one of the largest museums in Italy, the vast collection at the museum traces its origins back to 1738. Over the years the palace was enlarged and filled with more art, in 1787, on the advice of Jacob Philipp Hackert, a laboratory for the restoration of paintings was created. When the Parthenopaean Republic was declared in 1799, Ferdinand fled to Palermo on board Nelsons Vanguard, what remained was looted by the French troops of General Championnet who were billeted there during the short life of the Republic in 1799. Later on during the ten years of French reoccupation, the art collection was transferred to the Naples National Archaeological Museum, when King Ferdinand returned from Sicily in 1815, he employed many painters and sculptors to work on the redecoration of the palace. It was finally completed in 1840, and a gallery housing contemporary art was added, after the palace passed in 1861 to the House of Savoy, further pieces were added to the art collections, appointing Domenico Morelli as consultant for new acquisitions. They also added a collection of historic firearms and other weapons. In 1866, the boudoir of Maria Amalia of Saxony was transferred to Capodimonte from the Palace of Portici, after the end of the monarchy, the palace became purely a national museum in 1950, with many of the exhibits being returned from the National Museum. Elsewhere in the palace the royal apartments are furnished with antique 18th-century furniture, le Guide di Dove - Campania, Corriere della sera,2007. Il Museo di Capodimonte, valori di Napoli, Pubblicomit,2002

21.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych
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The Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych is a painting by the Italian medieval artist Simone Martini, dating to 1320. Originally placed at the altar of the church of Santa Caterina in Pisa. The work is signed SYMON DE SENIS ME PINXIT in the panel with the Madonna. According to the original convents annals, the polyptych was placed at the altar in 1320 and it was thus completed by that year, having been likely begun in 1319. The polyptych is Martinis largest work, and includes numerous sub-panels, aside from the seven main ones, there are 15 predella figures, an upper row with other 14 figures and seven cusps with other characters. There is a total of 43 figures, all these figures are enclosed within three foiled cusped arches. Above the Madonna are the two archangels Gabriel and Michael and, above them, the Blessing Christ, the six saints panel are surmounted by, also in couples, the Twelve Apostles, with the exception of St. John the Evangelist, replaced by St. Paul. The predella shows, at the center, Christ in the Sepulchre with the Madonna and St

22.
Pisa
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Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its tower, the city of over 90,834 residents contains more than 20 other historic churches, several medieval palaces. Much of the architecture was financed from its history as one of the Italian maritime republics. The origin of the name, Pisa, is a mystery, while the origin of the city had remained unknown for centuries, the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Ligurians had variously been proposed as founders of the city. Archaeological remains from the 5th century BC confirmed the existence of a city at the sea, trading with Greeks, the presence of an Etruscan necropolis, discovered during excavations in the Arena Garibaldi in 1991, confirmed its Etruscan origins. Ancient Roman authors referred to Pisa as an old city, strabo referred Pisas origins to the mythical Nestor, king of Pylos, after the fall of Troy. Virgil, in his Aeneid, states that Pisa was already a center by the times described. The Virgilian commentator Servius wrote that the Teuti, or Pelops, the maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. Pisa took advantage of being the port along the western coast from Genoa to Ostia. Pisa served as a base for Roman naval expeditions against Ligurians, Gauls, in 180 BC, it became a Roman colony under Roman law, as Portus Pisanus. In 89 BC, Portus Pisanus became a municipium, Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into an important port and changed the name in Colonia Iulia obsequens. It is supposed that Pisa was founded on the shore, however, due to the alluvial sediments from the Arno and the Serchio, whose mouth lies about 11 kilometres north of the Arnos, the shore moved west. Strabo states that the city was 4.0 kilometres away from the coast, currently, it is located 9.7 kilometres from the coast. However it was a city, with ships sailing up the Arno. In the 90s AD, a complex was built in the city. During the later years of the Roman Empire, Pisa did not decline as much as the cities of Italy, probably thanks to the complexity of its river system. After Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards under the command of Desiderius in 774, Pisa went through a crisis, politically it became part of the duchy of Lucca

23.
Uffizi
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The Uffizi Gallery is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, the construction was later continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and completed in 1581. The niches in the piers that alternate with columns filled with sculptures of artists in the 19th century. The Uffizi brought together under one roof the administrative offices, the Tribunal and the Archivio di Stato, the state archive. He commissioned from the architect Buontalenti the design of the Tribuna degli Uffizi that collected a series of masterpieces in one room, over the years, more sections of the palace were recruited to exhibit paintings and sculpture collected or commissioned by the Medici. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, because of its huge collection, some of its works have in the past been transferred to other museums in Florence—for example, some famous statues to the Bargello. A project was finished in 2006 to expand the exhibition space some 6,000 metres² to almost 13,000 metres². On 27 May 1993, a car exploded in Via dei Georgofili and damaged parts of the palace. The most severe damage was to the Niobe room and classical sculptures and neoclassical interior, the identity of the bomber or bombers are unknown, although it was almost certainly attributable to the Sicilian Mafia who were engaged in a period of terrorism at that time. Today, the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence, in high season, waiting times can be up to five hours. In early August 2007, Florence experienced a heavy rainstorm, the Gallery was partially flooded, with water leaking through the ceiling, and the visitors had to be evacuated. There was a more significant flood in 1966 which damaged most of the art collections in Florence severely. Here is a selection from the collection, The collection also contains some ancient sculptures, such as the Arrotino. Collections of the Uffizi Official website Uffizi – Google Art Project

24.
Chapel of St. Martin
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San Martino Chapel is a chapel in the Lower Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, Umbria, central Italy. Commissioned and funded by Cardinal Gentile Partino da Montefiore, it features a cycle of frescoes by Simone Martini, the frescoes are neither dated nor signed, but art historians tend to agree in identifying Martini as their author, based on stylistic and historical reasons. Gentile Partino da Montefiore was the Cardinal of the Basilica of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti in Rome. A document dating to March 1312 testifies the funding by the Cardinal of 600 golden florins for the construction, in the Spring of the same year the Cardinal is known to have been in Siena, while transferring the papal treasure to Avignon. Here he likely found an agreement with Simone Martini to paint the chapel, in the following October, the cardinal died at Lucca, without arriving in Avignon. Martini worked in the chapel in at least three phases and he started the works in 1312-1313, leaving the unfinished Maestà of the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena which he was working to. In this first period he designed the stained glasses and perhaps began the frescoes and he returned to Siena around 1314 to finish the Maestà, he was back to Assisi in June 1315, starting the second decoration phase. In 1317 he was called to Naples by King Robert I of Anjou, the work were finished around 1318. The side chapels show ten frescoes on the life of St. Martin, bishop of Tours. The eight saints under the arch are St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Antony of Padua and St. Francis, St. Claire and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Louis of France. The emperor who looks sharply at St. Martin in the Renounce, accusing him of cowardice, is identifiable with Frederick II. As a reply to the accuse, St. Martin is portrayed while marching towards the enemy with a cross in his hands. Milan, Silvana Editore. de Castris, Pierluigi Leone

25.
Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi
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The basilica is one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. With its accompanying friary, Sacro Convento, the basilica is a landmark to those approaching Assisi. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000, the interior of the Upper Church is an important early example of the Gothic style in Italy. The range and quality of the works gives the basilica a unique importance in demonstrating the development of Italian art of this period. The Franciscan friary and the Lower and Upper Basilicas of Francis of Assisi were begun in honor of this local saint, immediately after his canonization in 1228. Simone di Pucciarello donated the land for the church, a hill at the west side of Assisi, today, this hill is called Hill of Paradise. On 16 July 1228, Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in Assisi, the construction having been begun at his order, the Pope declared the church to be the property of the papacy. The church was designed by Maestro Jacopo Tedesco, who was in those days the most famous architect, the construction was supervised by Brother Elias of Cortona, one of the first followers of Saint Francis and the former Vicar General of the Order under Saint Francis. The Lower Basilica was finished in 1230, the burial place was concealed for fear that St Francis remains might be stolen and dispersed. The construction of the Upper Basilica was begun after 1239 and was completed in 1253, both churches were consecrated by Pope Innocent IV in 1253. Pope Nicholas IV, a former Minister-General of the Order of Franciscans, the Piazza del Loge, the square leading to the church, is surrounded by colonnades constructed in 1474. They housed the numerous pilgrims flocking to this church, in 1818, the remains of Saint Francis were rediscovered beneath the floor of the Lower Basilica. In the reign of Pope Pius IX the crypt was built so that the faithful visit the burial place of the saint. On 27 October 1986 and January 2002, Pope John Paul II gathered in Assisi with more than 120 representatives of different religions and Christian denominations for a World Day of Prayer for Peace. On the morning of September 26,1997, two earthquakes hit that region of Italy in rapid succession, registering 5.5 and 6.1 respectively on the Richter Scale, there was widespread devastation and many ancient buildings were destroyed or damaged. While a group of specialists and friars were inspecting the damage to the Basilica of Saint Francis, Two Franciscan friars who were among the group and two of the specialists were killed. The church was closed for two years for restoration, the collapse was filmed on tape. The church was designed by Maestro Jacopo Tedesco on two levels, each of which is consecrated as a church and they are known as the Basilica superiore, generally called The Upper Church and the Basilica inferiore, generally called The Lower Church

26.
Laura de Noves
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Laura de Noves was the wife of Count Hugues de Sade. She could be the Laura that the Humanist poet Francesco Petrarch wrote about extensively, however, Laura had a great influence on Petrarchs life and lyrics. The historical information on Laura is meager at best, born six years after Petrarch in 1310 in Avignon, she was the daughter of a knight, Audibert de Noves and his wife Ermessenda. She married at the age of 15 on 16 January 1325, Petrarch saw her for the first time two years later on 6 April in 1327 at Easter mass in the church of Sainte-Claire dAvignon. Not much is known about her other than she did have a family, was a virtuous wife. Since this first encounter with Laura, Petrarch spent the three years in Avignon singing his purely platonic love and haunting Laura in church and on her walks. After this Petrarch left Avignon and went to Lombez where he held a canonry gifted by Pope Benedict XII and her possible tomb could have been discovered by the French poet Maurice Scève in 1533. In 1337 he returned to Avignon and bought an estate at Vaucluse to be near his dear Laura. Here, for the three years, he wrote numerous sonnets in her praise. Petrarchs Canzoniere is the lyrics to her in the tradition of courtly love. They advanced the growth of Italian as a literary language and they also popularized this form of sonnet that is called Petrarchan sonnet. Years after her death Petrarch wrote his Trionfi, which is an allegory in which Laura is idealized

27.
Avignon Papacy
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The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon rather than in Rome. The situation arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown, Clement declined to move to Rome, remaining in France, and in 1309, he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. The absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, a total of seven popes reigned at Avignon, all were French, and they increasingly fell under the influence of the French Crown. Finally, on September 13,1376, Gregory XI abandoned Avignon and moved his court to Rome, officially ending the Avignon Papacy. Despite this return, following Gregorys death on March 27,1378 and this started a second line of Avignon popes, now regarded as illegitimate and known as antipopes. The second and final Avignon antipope, Benedict XIII, lost most of his support in 1398, including that of France, following five years of siege by the French, he fled to Perpignan on March 11,1403. The schism ended in 1417 at the Council of Constance, after two popes had reigned in opposition to the Papacy in Rome. Parties within the Roman Church were divided in their allegiance among the claimants to the office of pope. The Council of Constance finally resolved the controversy in 1417 when the election of Pope Martin V was accepted by all. Avignon and the enclave to the east remained part of the Papal States until the French Revolution. The Papacy in the Late Middle Ages played a major role in addition to its spiritual role. The conflict between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor was fundamentally a dispute over which of them was the leader of Christendom in secular matters. In the early 14th century, the papacy was well past the prime of its secular rule – its importance had peaked in the 12th and 13th centuries, one exception was Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was twice excommunicated by the Pope during a Crusade. Frederick II ignored this and was successful in the Holy Land. This state of affairs culminated in the declaration of papal supremacy, Unam sanctam. In that papal bull, Pope Boniface VIII decreed that it is necessary to salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman pontiff. This was directed primarily to King Phillip IV of France who responded by saying, in 1303 AD, Pope Boniface VIII followed up with a bull that would excommunicate the king of France and put the interdict over France, and depose the entire clergy of France. Before this was finalized, Italian allies of the King of France broke into the papal residence, nicholas Boccasini was elected as his successor and took the name Pope Benedict XI

28.
Pisa Polyptych
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The Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych is a painting by the Italian medieval artist Simone Martini, dating to 1320. Originally placed at the altar of the church of Santa Caterina in Pisa. The work is signed SYMON DE SENIS ME PINXIT in the panel with the Madonna. According to the original convents annals, the polyptych was placed at the altar in 1320 and it was thus completed by that year, having been likely begun in 1319. The polyptych is Martinis largest work, and includes numerous sub-panels, aside from the seven main ones, there are 15 predella figures, an upper row with other 14 figures and seven cusps with other characters. There is a total of 43 figures, all these figures are enclosed within three foiled cusped arches. Above the Madonna are the two archangels Gabriel and Michael and, above them, the Blessing Christ, the six saints panel are surmounted by, also in couples, the Twelve Apostles, with the exception of St. John the Evangelist, replaced by St. Paul. The predella shows, at the center, Christ in the Sepulchre with the Madonna and St

29.
Agostino Novello
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The Blessed Agostino Novello, also known as Augustine of Tarano, originally Matteo Di Termini, was an Italian religious figure. He was born in the first half of the 13th century, at Termini Imerese, as that village was near Palermo, he is sometimes called Panormitano. The Augustinians believe he was born at Tarano. On entering religion he changed his name to Agostino, and later was given the name of Novello. Matteos parents, of a family originally from Catalonia in Spain. At the University of Bologna, he earned of doctorate in civil and canon law and he worked in the chancery of the Kingdom of Sicily at the court of King Manfred of Sicily. In this capacity Matteo accompanied the King in the war against Charles I of Anjou, who disputed Manfreds right to the crown of Sicily. In the battle at Benevento, in which Manfred was killed and his army routed, Matteo was wounded and thought to be dead, and so was left on the battlefield among the corpses of other soldiers. Following this decision, Matteo asked for admission as a lay brother into the Order of St. Augustine, there he took the name Agostino, and there he would live unknown to the world, far from his home and his people, devoted to exercises of piety. He lived there tranquilly until an unforeseen incident brought him once more before the world, the title to some property belonging to the convent was claimed by a local bishop. The Augustinians were represented by a lawyer of Siena, Giacomo Pallares. Pallares, lost no time in informing the authorities of Agostinos identity. Agostino was elected prior general in 1298, despite his attempts to refuse this position he was ordered by the pope to accept. In 1300 he resigned office and spent the remaining ten years of his life at the hermitage of San Leonardo al Lago. He was known and respected for his humility and love of contemplation. He played an important role in the founding of Siena’s hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, many of the miracles wrought through the intercession of Blessed Agostino were verified and authenticated. Clement XIII solemnly beatified him in 1761, and Clement XIV authorized his cult on 23 July 1770, life of Bl. Augustine Novello of Tarano and Bl. Clement of Osimo This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles

30.
Memmo di Filippuccio
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Memmo di Filippuccio was a 14th-century painter from Siena, Italy. Memmo di Filippuccio is mentioned in the records as painting several works at the Town Hall of San Gimignano in 1303. The frescoed decorations are in the chamber and show scenes of everyday life. The best known of the frescos are two scenes of domestic bliss and these frescos are among the most frequently reproduced documents used to illustrates daily life. Memmo was given a house and workshop in San Gimignano, Memmo di Filippucci had two sons who were painters, Lippo Memmi and Federico Memmi. His son-in-law was Simone Martini, one of the most outstanding, in 1317, Lippo di Memmi received a commission to paint a large Maesta in the main chamber of the Town Hall. It is thought that Memmo assisted his son with this work, Memmo may also have worked with Lippo Memmi on the fresco cycle of the New Testament in the Collegiate Church of San Gimignano, completed around 1345. These frescos have long been ascribed to Barna of Siena but are now believed to be the work of Lippo di Memmi, Collegiate Church of San Gimignano Duccio Cimabue Giotto

31.
Catholic Encyclopedia
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The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index volume in 1914 and later supplementary volumes. It was designed to give its readers full and authoritative information on the cycle of Catholic interests, action. The Catholic Encyclopedia was published by the Robert Appleton Company, a company incorporated at New York in February 1905 for the express purpose of publishing the encyclopedia. The five members of the encyclopedias Editorial Board also served as the directors of the company, in 1912 the companys name was changed to The Encyclopedia Press. Publication of the volumes was the sole business conducted by the company during the projects lifetime. The encyclopedia was designed to serve the Roman Catholic Church, concentrating on information related to the Church and it records the accomplishments of Catholics and others in nearly all intellectual and professional pursuits, including artists, educators, poets and scientists. The volumes came out sequentially the first two in 1907 and the last three in 1912, The editors had their first editorial meeting at the office of The Messenger, on West 16th Street, New York City. The text received a nihil obstat from an official censor, Remy Lafort, on November 1,1908 and this review process was presumably accelerated by the reuse of older authorized publications. A first supplement was published in 1922, a supplement in nine loose-leaf sections was published by The Gilmary Society between 1950 and 1958. In 1912, a special completely illustrated commemorative volume was awarded to patrons who contributed to the start of the enterprise by buying multiple encyclopedia sets early on. The encyclopedia was later updated under the auspices of The Catholic University of America and a 17-volume New Catholic Encyclopedia was first published in 1967, and then in 2002. The Catholic Encyclopedia and its makers states that, The work is entirely new, the editors have insisted that the articles should contain the latest and most accurate information to be obtained from the standard works on each subject. Those who wrote new articles in English include Anthony Maas and Herbert Thurston, under United States copyright law, all works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain. Knight founded the website New Advent to house the undertaking, volunteers from the United States, Canada, France, and Brazil helped in the transcription of the original material. The site went online in 1995, and transcription work ended in 1997, in 2007, Catholic Answers published a watermarked version derived from page scans. This version has since replaced with a transcription of the Encyclopedia similar to that found at the New Advent website. The Catholic Answers transcription, however, is a transcription of the original text, whereas the New Advent version at times modernizes certain words. Other scanned copies of the 1913 Encyclopedia are available on Google Books, at the Internet Archive, wikisource also hosts a transcription project backed by the scans hosted at Commons

32.
Il Canzoniere
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Il Canzoniere, also known as the Rime Sparse, but originally titled Rerum vulgarium fragmenta, is a collection of poems by the Italian humanist, poet, and writer Petrarch. Though the majority of Petrarchs output was in Latin, the Canzoniere was written in the vernacular, of its 366 poems, the vast majority are in sonnet form, though the sequence contains a number of canzoni, sestine, madrigals, and ballate. Its central theme is the love for Laura, a woman Petrarch allegedly met on April 6,1327. Though disputed, the inscription in his copy of Virgil records this information, the transcription and ordering of the sequence itself went on until 1374, the year of the poets death. The two sections of the sequence which are divided by Lauras death have traditionally been labelled In vita and In morte respectively and his work would go on to become what Spiller calls the single greatest influence on the love poetry of Renaissance Europe until well into the seventeenth century. The most evident purpose of the Canzoniere is to praise Laura, yet questions concerning the virtue of love in relation to the Christian religion and desire are always present. Antithesis are also key to the sequence and in one sense represent Petrarchs search for balance and this leads on to the essential paradox of Petrarchan love, where love is desired yet painful, fluctuation between states is a means of expressing this instability. The changing mind of man and the passing of time are central themes. Some other themes are desire, isolation, unrequited love, the central theme in the Canzoniere is the love for Laura, with whom Petrarch fell in love at first sight. Laura was already married and turned all of Petrarchs advances. It is unknown if the two ever spoke and they met on Good Friday and Laura allegedly died on Good Friday. In any case, it would be improper to see Canzoniere as uniquely inspired by love for Laura, Other themes are important, religion, poetry, politics, time, glory. Even glory, however, cannot guarantee real eternity, because in Christianity, Petrarch uses the Metamorphoses of Ovid to convey themes of instability, and also sources Virgils Aeneid. Petrarch inherited aspects of artifice and rhetorical skill from Sicilian courtly poetry, including that of the inventor of the sonnet form, Giacomo da Lentini. Dante, and the school of the dolce stil nuovo or sweet new style, developed this placement of the female, in 1380, Chaucer adopted part of the Canzoniere to form three stanzas of rhyme royal in Troilus and Criseyde, Book I. Over 150 years would pass until Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, thus, their translations of Rimes from the Canzoniere paved the way for the sonnet sequences of Sidney and Shakespeare. Early French soneteers included Clément Marot and Mellin Saint Gelais, the latter spent nine years in Italy before returning to France to spread knowledge of Petrarch and Serafino. The first sonnet sequence to be published in France came in 1549 in the form of Joachim du Bellays LOlive

33.
Africa (Petrarch)
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Africa is an epic poem in Latin hexameters by the 14th century Italian poet Petrarch. Africa and De viris illustribus were partially inspired by Petrarchs visit to Rome in 1337 and it seems very likely that the inspirational vision of the Eternal City must have been the immediate spur to the design of the Africa and probably De viris illustribus as well. After returning from his tour, the first sections of Africa were written in the valley of Vaucluse. A preliminary form of the poem was completed in time for the laurel coronation April 8,1341, Petrarch spoke of this It could easily be inferred from this wording that the epic poem was far enough along to receive this flattering colloquy. By 1343 the work was finished as we have it today worldwide. Petrarch had been with the court of Cardinal Giovanni Colonna in the days he lived at Avignon around 1330 and he was ordained in the Catholic priesthood, as capellanus continuous, in the lower ranks. He received additional support from the Roman Colonna dynasty for his work on Cornelius Scipio, Petrarchs epic poem was dedicated to Robert of Naples, king of Sicily. The king gave him an oral examination at his residence a few days prior to see if he was qualified to receive the laurel crown. The symbolism of the event among the loco ipso was a resurrection event, Petrarchs Coronation Oration is the formal public speech of acceptance by him of the title poet laureate on April 8,1341, for his work on Africa about Cornelius Scipio. Petrarchs speech, given in the form of a medieval sermon and it is considered the first manifesto of the Renaissance. Petrarch looked at his laureateship as political, in his grand speech he said of the description of his laurel that it was. equally appropriate of Caesars and poets. It was an event where trumpets were blared. King Robert gave Petrarch a special robe to wear in honor of this event and he was given the titles of poet, master, professor of poetry and history and the most famous private citizen then living. At the time of the coronation, the Africa consisted of just a few books, the main plot, being the ancient historical events of the Second Punic War, are taken directly from Livys extensive Roman work of the Foundation of the City Books 21 to 30. The coronation for the work of Cornelius Scipio and the Second Punic War in the Africa shows the creditability. He was later labelled father of humanism for the reconstruction of Livys records that he did on various previously lost versions, the Africa has particular historical value because it contains Petrarchs ideas about Roman history and the current state of Italian life then. Petrarch intended his epic poem to be a new Aeneid, which was a poem about the hero Aeneas written in the first century B. C. The general theme of the Aeneid is followed by Petrarchs story of the hero Cornelius Scipio, the Aeneid not only provided Petrarch with a rhetorical cultivation, but also with a collection of epic emotions to work from

34.
De Viris Illustribus (Petrarch)
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De viris illustribus is an unfinished collection of biographies, written in Latin, by the 14th century Italian author Francesco Petrarca. These biographies are a set of Lives similar in idea to Plutarchs Parallel Lives, the works were unfinished however he was famous enough for these and other works to receive two invitations to be crowned poet laureate. He received these invitations on exactly the day, April 8,1341, one being from the Paris University. It is composed of two books, Liber I includes 24 to 36 moral biographies of heroes of Greek and Roman antiquity, Liber II includes 12 moral biographies of Biblical and mythical figures. There is as yet no English translation, however Harvard University has it under contract to appear in the I Tatti Renaissance Library sometime in the future and these are 36 biographies of Petrarchs subjects starting with Romulus, the mythological founder of Rome, and going through Trajan. All of these are mentioned in Petrarchs epic poem Africa and he revised the list many times over the years in different plans. Some Illustrious Romans ended with Titus, another plan of Illustrious Romans added Julius Caesar as the twenty-fourth biography. Listed among these are Titus, Pompey, Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar and these are the subjects of Petrarchs 12 biographies starting with the first person of the Bible. Petrarch influenced Giovanni Boccaccio Lives On Famous Women of 106 biographies which starts with the first woman of the Bible, below is the first person of the Bible and above in Liber I is the first mythical figures that started Rome. The Africa was conceived as a parallel of De Viris Illustribus. Petrarch conceived his first plan for De viris illustribus of biographies of men of Jewish, oriental, Greek. He wrote up his list of Illustrious Men from Adam to Hercules, Petrarchs earliest reference to writing a series of biographies of Lives can be found in the third book of his work Secretum which was originally written up around 1337. St. Augustine speaks to Petrarch Petrarch went from these Lives of Illustrious Men into his work on the Africa using the research of De viris illustribus as the bases. Petrarch was preoccupied with this idea of a series of biographies of Lives of ancient heroes of generals, there were several plans of De viris illustribus. In 1348-49 Petrarch made a version of Lives. This is known to scholars as an all-ages plan, Petrarch added the bio of Julius Caesar, De gestis Cesaris, later as the twenty-fourth and last character of the Roman version finished about 1364 as an afterthought to his original Famous Men. He wanted to depict events that were controlled by the Roman leaders and he wanted to be a critical historian and convey these illustrious men in dignity. For these reasons he is considered the first historian of the Renaissance, Petrarch worked on various plans and versions of De viris illustribus

35.
De remediis utriusque fortunae
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De remediis utriusque fortunae is a collection of 254 Latin dialogues written by the humanist Francesco Petrarca, commonly known as Petrarch. The dialogues, completed towards the end of Petrarchs life, are treasure-chests of wisdom and they display remarkably lucid ideas that are cogently expressed. Drawing on classical sources, Petrarch expounded on refinement in taste and intellect, on finesse and propriety in speech and style. The writing is a bouquet of moral philosophy, set out to show how thought and deed can generate happiness on the one hand, or sorrow, in a recurring theme throughout the dialogues, Petrarch advises humility in prosperity and fortitude in adversity. The 254 woodcut illustrations by the anonymous Master of Petrarch for the 1532 German edition are considered masterpieces of the German Renaissance. In 1579 the dialogues were translated into English by the Elizabethan physician Thomas Twyne as Phisicke Against Fortune, media related to De remediis utriusque fortunae at Wikimedia Commons De remediis utriusque fortunae, Cremonae, B. de Misintis ac Caesaris Parmensis,1492. Online at Wikisource „Von der Artzney bayder Glück / des guoten vnd widerwertigen, vnnd weß sich ain yeder inn Gelück vnnd vnglück halten sol. Auß dem Lateinischen in das Teütsch gezogen, mit künstlichen fyguren durchauß / gantz lustig vnd schön gezyeret. “ Augsburg, Heynrich Steyner 1532. Online at gallica Catharina Ypes, Petrarca in de Nederlandse letterkunde, online at Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren

36.
De vita solitaria
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De vita solitaria is a philosophical treatise composed in Latin and written between 1346 and 1356 by Italian Renaissance humanist Petrarch. It constitutes an apology of solitude dedicated to his friend Philippe de Cabassoles, solitude is necessary for a life of contemplation, for both saints and philosophers. Petrarch merged the medieval interest in meditation with Ciceros idea of philosophical otium. Petrarch divided this work into two books from the beginning, a later translator further broke it down into tractate sections and chapters. The elaborate chapter titles were not in the original, in the first chapter, Petrarch talks in this book of needful to those that desire peace and quiet. He talks of men of learning desiring solitude for contemplation, in the second chapter, he addresses the experiences of the life of solitude. He indicates that while others may have written on the life of solitude and he prefers to use his own experiences as a guide to what a life of solitude is. In the third chapter, he states there is a single idea underlying the observations of the life of busyness. One life leads to grievous worry, while the other attains happy leisure and he says that he dislikes the adversities that happen in crowds and a populous environment, while solitude promotes happy leisure and more favorable results with peace and tranquility. In the first chapter, Petrarch discusses two types of people, one is the city dweller who awakens in the middle of the night thinking of his clients with falsehoods. He thinks how he may be able to drive a bargain with ill-gotten profit gains or betraying his friends or his seductions for his neighbor’s wife to tempt her away from her loyalty. He looks for whatever mischief he can create and he begins before dawn on his quest to corruption. Contrast this to the man, a man of leisure that is fully rested. He praises God for the gifts he has received, which can not be matched by the items of the busy man. He immediately engages in an honest task or an agreeable lesson and he then waits for sunrise with calmness of mind. He has a heart and peace of mind with good intentions for his upcoming daily activities. In the second chapter, he talks of the daily sunrise, each man, businessman and retiree, has their own prayers. The businessman is greeted at the doorway by enemies and friends and they engage him and immediately take up his time in different directions, whatever the business is or whatever the argument

37.
Epistolae familiares
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Epistolae familiares is the title of a collection of letters of Petrarch which he edited during his lifetime. He originally called the collection Epistolarum mearum ad diversos liber but this was shortened to the current title. Petrarch discovered the text of Cicero’s letters in 1345, which gave him the idea to collect his own sets of letters and it wasnt until four or five years later however, that he actually got started. He collected his letter correspondence in two different time periods and they are referred to as Epistolae familiares and Sentiles. Epistolae familiares was largely collected during his stay in Provence about 1351 to 1353, Petrarch had this collection of letters copied onto parchment in 1359 by a certain ingeniosus homo et amicus with another complete copy done in 1364. He added letters in 1366, bringing his first collection of letters to 350 and he broke these down and sorted them into 24 volumes. This first collection of letters called Epistolae familiares were actually written between the years 1325 and 1366, in January 1350 Petrarch wrote a lengthy letter to his dear friend dedicating the collection to him. He requests his friend to keep the letters out of sight of the censors. Petrarch begun a collection of letters in 1361, also known as Letters of Old Age. It contains 128 letters written between 1361 and 1373 and it is also broken down and sorted into volumes. The final letter, the first and only of the 18th book is his incomplete Letter to Posterity, Bernardo, formerly Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Italian and Comparative Literature, State University of New York at Binghamton. Letter to Posterity Ascent of Mont Ventoux There are many letters that Petrarch lost or did not keep a copy of, others he destroyed the originals of for fear they would bring much criticism to his larger collection. There is a collection of 59 of these letters by Giuseppe Fracassetti, liber sine nomine is an epitome of this same work in one volume without a title. Francesco Petrarch, Letters on Familiar Matters, translated by Aldo S. Bernardo, Volume 1, Books 1-8, Volume 2, Books 9-16, Volume 3, Books 17-24. Francesco Petrarch, Letters of Old Age, translated by Aldo S. Bernardo, Volume 1, Books 1-9, Volume 2, Books 10-18. Oxford University reference to Prose, ed. G. Martillotti, P. G. Ricci, E. Carrara, E. Bianchi, Milano-Napoli,1955 The Latin Works of Petrarch

38.
Ascent of Mont Ventoux
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The Italian poet Petrarch wrote about his ascent of Mont Ventoux on 26 April 1336 in a well-known letter published as one of his Epistolae familiares. In this letter, written around 1350, Petrarch claimed to be the first person since antiquity to have climbed a mountain for the view. Although the historical accuracy of his account has been questioned by modern scholars, Petrarchs letter is addressed to his former confessor, Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro. It says he ascended the mountain with his brother Gherardo and two servants, exactly ten years after they had left Bologna and they began at the village of Malaucène at the foot of the mountain. On the way up they met an old shepherd, who said he had climbed the mountain some fifty years before, finding only rocks and brambles, and that no-one else had done it before or since. The brothers continued, Gherardo continuing up the ridge they were following, Petrarch ever trying for an easier, if longer, path. At the top, they found a peak called Filiolus, Little Son, Petrarch reflected on the past ten years, and they looked out from here, seeing the Rhone and the Cévennes, but not the Pyrenees. But in themselves they are uninterested, Petrarch fell silent on this trip down, reflecting on the vanity of human wishes and the nobility of uncorrupted human thought. When they arrived back in the village in the middle of the night and it is often claimed that Petrarch was the first to climb Mont Ventoux, although he did not suggest so himself. Ventoux in order to make some meteorological observations, lyell Asher argued, indeed, that the ascent of the mountain was a figurative account of writing the letter itself. Petrarchs implication that he was the first to climb mountains for pleasure, There are also numerous references to Petrarch as an alpinist, although Mont Ventoux is not a hard climb, and is not usually considered part of the Alps. This implicit claim of Petrarch and Burckhardt, that Petrarch was the first to climb a mountain for pleasure since antiquity, was disproven by Lynn Thorndike in 1943. James Hillman, in Re-Visioning Psychology, uses the story of Petrarchs ascent to illustrate his argument that the world of nature is mirrored by an equally vast inner world of images. Both worlds exist apart from the human being, the outer world may have motivated Petrarch to climb Mont Ventoux, but the inner world is what he discovered when he reached the top and read the passage from Augustines Confessions. Edmund Burke Bishop, Morris Petrarch and His World, indiana University Press 1963 Blumenberg, Hans, The Legitimacy of the Modern Age. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, tr, michael Kimmelman, NOT Because its There, New York Times, June 6,1999. Journal of the History of Ideas

39.
Liber sine nomine
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The Liber sine nomine is a collection of nineteen personal letters written in Latin by the fourteenth century Italian poet and Renaissance humanist Petrarch. The letters being harshly critical of the Avignon papacy, they were withheld from the collection of his Epistolae familiares. In this fashion, Petrarch reasoned, a reader could throw away this collection, and these letters were sent to his closest friends, which many times were well known figures to the public. So that he would not divulge their identities, he withheld these particular 19 letters, in Letter 19, there was an appendix added addressed to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV as a final plea to move the papacy back to Rome. Cosenza, Francesco Petrarca and the Revolution of Coli di Rienzo, Paul Piur, john E. Wrigley A Papal Secret known to Petrarch, Speculum, XXXIX, pp.613 –634. E. H. Wilkins, Petrarch at Vaucluse, J. H. Robinson, Petrarch, First Modern Scholar. V. Rossi, Epistolae Familiares, volume 4, Liber Sine Nomine in Latin Petrarch from Catholic Encyclopedia Works by Petrarch at Project Gutenberg Francesco Petrarca

40.
Secretum (book)
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Secretum is a trilogy of dialogues in Latin written by Petrarch sometime from 1347 to 1353, in which he examines his faith with the help of Saint Augustine, and in the presence of The Lady Truth. Secretum was not circulated until some time after Petrarchs death, and was meant to be a means of self-examination more than a work to be published. The dialogue opens with Augustine chastising Petrarch for ignoring his own mortality, Petrarch concedes that this lack of piety is the source of his unhappiness, but he insists that he cannot overcome it. Petrarchs turn towards religion in his life was inspired in part by Augustines Confessions. The ideas expressed in the dialogues are taken mostly from Augustine, other notable influences include Cicero and other Pre-Christian thinkers. Secretum can be seen as an attempt by Petrarch to reconcile his Renaissance humanism, classical writers are also regarded as sources of authority supporting Christianity, and Secretum quotes them more frequently than scripture. Text of Petrarchs Secretum I dialogue in English

41.
Philippe de Cabassoles
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Philippe de Cabassole or Philippe de Cabassoles, the Bishop of Cavaillon, Seigneur of Vaucluse, was the great protector of Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarch. Philippe was educated by the clegy of Cavaillon and was made Canon of the chapter of Cavaillon on 22 March 1328. He next was promoted to archdeacon on 26 August 1330 and he then took a position as provost on 18 September 1331. Philippe was promoted to the episcopate when he was a deacon in 1333 by Pope John XXII, Philip was elected bishop of Cavaillon on 17 August 1334. He attended the Council of Avignon in 1337, Philip became guardian of Robert of Anjous granddaughter at his death, Queen Joan I of Naples. He became chancellor of Sicily in 1343 and legate of Pope Innocent VI in Dauphiné in 1353 and he was named titular Latin patriarch of Jerusalem on 18 August 1361 and remained as administrator of the see of Cavaillon until 23 September 1366. He became rector of Comtat-Venaissin starting 17 November 1362, Philip was also named administrator of the see of Marseille on 23 September 1366 and was there until 9 December 1368. Philip created a cardinal priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano in the council of 22 September 1368. He was made a cardinal by Pope Urban V in 1368 and he was also named by Pope Urban V the governor of Avignon and vicar general during the popes absence. He was also Archdeacon of York and Archdeacon of Leicester from 1370 to 1372, Philippe formed a long lasting friendship with Petrarch from 1337 until his death in 1372. Philippe had a villa not far from Avignon in the village of Vaucluse high on a cliff with a view, Petrarch built a home in Vaucluse after visiting his friend Philippe, who had built his castle on the site of a 7th-century BC Oppidum. From Philippes castle the view was beautiful and is no wonder the bishop selected this lofty spot, living just a short twenty-minute walk from one another, they developed a very close relationship that lasted a lifetime. Petrarch dedicated a book to his friend, who treated him as a brother, among the intimates of Petrarchs old age there seems to be only one name missing in Petrarchs will, which is Philippes. Their friendship had begun in 1337 when Petrarch moved to Vaucluse and they stayed close friends up until Philippes death in 1372. Petrarch made a collection of 350 letters he wrote called Epistolae familiares. In among these letters in 1346 Petrarch writes what is called De vita solitaria, in Book XXII of Familiar Letters is Petrarchs books of these letters to Philippe which he delivered 20 years after he wrote them. Letters 1 and 12 are letters Petrarch wrote to his friend Phillippe that are in this set of letters without a name of the recipient. Petrarch dedicated his work De vita solitaria to his friend Philip, a dedication to him is in the preface

42.
Ser Petracco
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Ser Petracco was the father to the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch. His father was Ser Parenzo, son of Ser Garzo who reputedly lived to be 100 and they all were notaries public, the same office that Ser Petracco held in Florence. The family did have a property in Florence. His wife’s name was Eletta Canigiani, the mother to Petrarch, petrarch’s daughter was named after her. Ser Petracco was a merchant and also worked for the State, before he was 35 years old he had already held many high public positions. He was Chancellor of the Commission for the Reforms as well as a delegate of an important embassy to Pisa in 1301, at the end of 1302 of his political career he was falsely charged of legal matters in his absence. The sentence was a fine of 1000 Lira or the loss of his right hand and he refused to pay the fine and his property was taken from him. He belonged to the party of the White Guelphs along with the famous poet Dante. They both were exiled from Florence by the opposing party, the Black Guelphs. Francesco Petrarch was an Aretine by these mere circumstances - as he thought of himself really as a Florentine. The family, along with Dante and others exiled to Arezzo, were not welcomed there. Ser Petracco had to seek employment elsewhere, however his wife, a family story goes that Francesco was about seven months old when he and his mother moved back to Incisa. Baby Francesco was being transported in an arrangement carried over a servants shoulder. The servant was mounted on a horse, when they crossed through the flooded Arno river the horse slipped and fell. Francesco and the servant went headlong into the water, with much determination and inner strength the servant saved Francesco. Ser Petracco periodically visited the family in Incisca from his out of town employment, in 1307 Francesco’s brother Gherardo was born. About 1310 they were all reunited for a year in Pisa, around 1311 Ser Petracco got employment in Avignon where the papal household had moved to from Rome. Then in 1312 the boys and his moved to Carpentras

43.
Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro
–
Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro OESA was an Augustinian monk who was at one time Petrarchs confessor, and who taught Boccaccio at the beginning of his education in the humanities. He was Bishop of Monopoli in Apulia and he was surnamed, not uncommonly for the trecento, for the town in which he was born, now Sansepolcro in Tuscany. His family name was de Roberti, which no longer exists, Dionigi is the Italian form of Dennis, Latin Dionysius. Dionigi joined the Order of Hermits at the Augustinian monastery in Borgo San Sepolcro at an early age, the convent had been founded in 1281 and was located in the valley of Spoleto. He was sent to study theology at the Sorbonne in Paris, about 1324 he obtained a doctorate in theology and was a professor at Borgo San Sorbonne through 1328. While in Paris, he practised astrology, and predicted the death of Castruccio Castracani. He acquired the ranks of diffinitor and magister sacrae paginae, although these are rarely attested because he may have left the University of Paris. He travelled widely, in 1329 he went on a diplomatic mission for Cardinal Napoleone Orsini, in 1332 he was in Venice. There he taught at the College which the Augustinians ran, in 1337 he went to Florence, in October 1338 he went to Naples, and he remained in that kingdom the rest of his life. At Naples, he lived in the Augustinian convent, and was witness to a gift of land made by the Neapolitan nobleman Walter to build a church in honor of S. Giovanni Battista, executed 11 October 1339, other intellectuals in Naples at the time include Andalò del Negro, Paolo Minorita, Niccolò Acciaioli, Paolo dellAbbaco, Paolo da Perugia, Graziolo de Bambaglioli, and Cino da Pistoia. On 17 March 1340, he was consecrated bishop of Monopoli, a dispensation for a marriage from him survives dated 5 June 1340 among the correspondence of Pope Benedict XII. He died on 31 March 1342 and was buried in the church yard of Agostino alla Zecca. Dionigi had been Petrarchs confessor during his stay in Avignon, much of what we know about Dionigi is inferred from this correspondence, and is correspondingly uncertain. Moschella holds, for example that he was introduced to Petrarch in 1333, by Giacomo Colonna, Dionigi recommended Augustines Confessions to Petrarch, who had never read it, Dionigi gave him a pocket copy, which Petrarch says he carried around with him everywhere. Moschella asserts that Dionigis influence on Petrarch in his moral crisis over Laura amounted to a conversion, Petrarch addressed his long account of his ascent of Mont Ventoux to Dionigi. Dionigi also arranged Petrarchs visit to Naples in February 1341, when King Robert examined him for his fitness for the laurel, giovanni Boccaccio had lived in Naples, and been welcome in the court of King Robert, since 1327, when he was fourteen. He returned to Florence, probably at the end of 1340, Dionigi had introduced him to the works of Augustine, Seneca, and Petrarch, Branca presumes that he had also taught him vernacular poetry and rhymed prose

44.
Giovanni Boccaccio
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Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Boccaccio wrote a number of works, including The Decameron. The details of Boccaccios birth are uncertain and he was born in Florence or in a village near Certaldo where his family was from. He was the son of Florentine merchant Boccaccino di Chellino and an unknown woman, Boccaccios stepmother was called Margherita de Mardoli. His father worked for the Compagnia dei Bardi and, in the 1320s, married Margherita dei Mardoli, Boccaccio may have been tutored by Giovanni Mazzuoli and received from him an early introduction to the works of Dante. In 1326, his father was appointed head of a bank, Boccaccio was an apprentice at the bank but disliked the banking profession. He persuaded his father to let him study law at the Studium and he also pursued his interest in scientific and literary studies. His father introduced him to the Neapolitan nobility and the French-influenced court of Robert the Wise in the 1330s, at this time, he fell in love with a married daughter of the king, who is portrayed as Fiammetta in many of Boccaccios prose romances, including Il Filocolo. Acciaioli later became counselor to Queen Joanna I of Naples and, eventually and it seems that Boccaccio enjoyed law no more than banking, but his studies allowed him the opportunity to study widely and make good contacts with fellow scholars. His early influences included Paolo da Perugia, humanists Barbato da Sulmona and Giovanni Barrili, in Naples, Boccaccio began what he considered his true vocation of poetry. Works produced in this period include Il Filostrato and Teseida, The Filocolo, the period featured considerable formal innovation, including possibly the introduction of the Sicilian octave, where it influenced Petrarch. Boccaccio returned to Florence in early 1341, avoiding the plague of 1340 in that city and he had left Naples due to tensions between the Angevin king and Florence. His father had returned to Florence in 1338, where he had gone bankrupt, the pastoral piece Ninfale fiesolano probably dates from this time, also. In 1343, Boccaccios father remarried to Bice del Bostichi and his children by his first marriage had all died, but he had another son named Iacopo in 1344. In Florence, the overthrow of Walter of Brienne brought about the government of popolo minuto and it diminished the influence of the nobility and the wealthier merchant classes and assisted in the relative decline of Florence. The city was further in 1348 by the Black Death. From 1347, Boccaccio spent much time in Ravenna, seeking new patronage and, despite his claims and his stepmother died during the epidemic and his father was closely associated with the government efforts as Minister of Supply in the city. His father died in 1349 and Boccaccio was forced into an active role as head of the family

45.
Dante Alighieri
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Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages, the majority of poetry was written in Latin. In De vulgari eloquentia, however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature, as a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, Dante has been called the Father of the Italian language and one of the greatest poets of world literature. In Italy, Dante is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta and il Poeta, he, Petrarch, Dante was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, present-day Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in the Divine Comedy, in 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11. Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans, but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei, born no earlier than about 1100. Dantes father, Alaghiero or Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the middle of the 13th century. Dantes family had loyalties to the Guelphs, an alliance that supported the Papacy and which was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines. The poets mother was Bella, likely a member of the Abati family and she died when Dante was not yet ten years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. When Dante was 12, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati, contracting marriages at this early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. But by this time Dante had fallen in love with another, Beatrice Portinari, years after his marriage to Gemma he claims to have met Beatrice again, he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. The exact date of his marriage is not known, the certain information is that, before his exile in 1301. Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino and this victory brought about a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take any part in life, one had to enroll in one of the citys many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians. In the following years, his name is recorded as speaking or voting in the various councils of the republic. A substantial portion of minutes from meetings in the years 1298–1300 was lost, however

Petrarch
–
Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarchs rediscovery of Ciceros letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Renaissance, Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the mod

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Petrarch

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Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo

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Original lyrics by Petrarch, found in 1985 in Erfurt

Siena
–
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena, the historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nations most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008, Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a

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Capitoline Wolf at Siena Duomo. According to a legend Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus. When they fled Rome, they took the statue of She-wolf to Siena, which became a symbol of the town.

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Siena Cathedral

Republic of Siena
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The Republic of Siena was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It existed for four hundred years, from 1125 to 1555. In the Italian War of 1551–59 the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown, after 18 months of resistance, Republic o

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Medieval coin of the Republic of Siena (12th century)

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Italy, and the Republic of Siena, at the close of the 15th century

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The historic centre dominated by the Duomo

Avignon
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Avignon is a commune in south-eastern France in the department of Vaucluse on the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 90,194 inhabitants of the city, about 12,000 live in the ancient town centre enclosed by its medieval ramparts. Between 1309 and 1377, during the Avignon Papacy, seven popes resided in Avignon. Papal control persisted until 1791 wh

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Palace of the Popes

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UNESCO World Heritage Site

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A small anthropomorphic stele discovered during an archaeological excavation on the Rocher des Doms

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Greek stele from Avignon, at the Lapidary Museum.

Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian

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The Kingdom of France in 1789. Ancien Régime provinces in 1789.

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Royal Standarda

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Henry IV, by Frans Pourbus the younger, 1610.

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Louis XIII, by Philippe de Champaigne, 1647.

Duccio
–
Duccio di Buoninsegna was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. He is considered to be the father of Sienese painting and, along with a few others and he was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Duccio is credited with creating

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Maestà with Twenty Angels and Nineteen Saints, detail

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The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew (from the Maestà), c. 1308-1311.

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Madonna with child, the child pulling the madonnas hair

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Annunciation

Painting
–
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, gesture, composition, narration, or abstraction, among other aesthetic

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The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.

Fresco
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Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting. Buon fresco pigment mixed with water

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Fresco in the church Mariä Verkündigung in Fuchstal, Bavaria, Germany from Thomas Springer

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Fresco Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Rome, Italy.

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Etruscan fresco of Velia Velcha from the Tomb of Orcus, Tarquinia.

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Fresco of " Sappho " from Pompeii, c. 50 CE.

Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus
–
The Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus is a painting by the Italian Gothic artists Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. It is a triptych painted in tempera and gold, with a central panel having double size. Considered Martinis masterwork and one of the most outstanding works of Gothic pain

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Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus

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Detail of the central panel.

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External video

International Gothic
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International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which initially developed in Burgundy, France and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period. The main influences were northern France, the Duchy of Burgundy, the Imperial court in Prague, royal marriages such as th

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Detail of the Annunciation (1333) by the Sienese Simone Martini, Uffizi.

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The Votive Panel of Jan Očko of Vlašim. Kneeling Emperor Charles IV and his son Wenceslaus before the Virgin, Bohemia, 1371. (detail)

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Jean de Vaudetar, chamberlain of king Charles V of France, presents his gift of a manuscript to the King, 1372.

Giorgio Vasari
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Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Recommended at an age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia. He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own, in 1529, he visited Rome where he studied the works of Raphael and other artists of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasaris own Mannerist pa

Giotto
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Giotto di Bondone, known mononymously as Giotto and Latinized as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. He is generally considered the first in a line of artists who contributed to the Renaissance. Giottos masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, also known as the Arena Chapel and

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Statue representing Giotto, outside the Uffizi

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A portrait of Dante by Giotto

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One of the Legend of St. Francis frescoes at Assisi, the authorship of which is disputed

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The Crucifixion of Rimini

Old St. Peter's Basilica
–
Old St. Peters Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, on the spot where the new St. Peters Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the site of the Circus of Nero. The name old St. Peters Basilica has been used since the construction of the current basilica to distinguish the two

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19th-century drawing of St. Peter's Basilica as it is thought to have looked around 1450. The Vatican Obelisk is on the left, still standing on the spot where it was erected on the orders of the Emperor Caligula in 37 A.D.

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Fresco showing cutaway view of Constantine's St. Peter's Basilica as it looked in the 4th century

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Bronze statue of Saint Peter by Arnolfo di Cambio, dating to the 13th century

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The 1628 full-size copy in oil of the great Navicella mosaic by Giotto

Lippo Memmi
–
Lippo Memmi was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law and he was one of the artists who worked at Orvieto Cathedral, for which he finished the Virgin of Mercy. Later he followed Martini to the Papal court in Avignon, where he worked until the mid-14th century, after his return to S

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Virgin of Mercy (Madonna dei Raccomandati), Orvieto Cathedral

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Memmi's Maestà in the Sala di Dante of the Palazzo Comunale, San Gimignano.

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Judas receives the thirty pieces of silver, fresco, San Gimignano.

Palazzo Pubblico
–
The Palazzo Pubblico is a palace in Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. Construction began in 1297 and its purpose was to house the republican government, consisting of the Podestà. The outside of the structure is an example of Italian medieval architecture with Gothic influences, the lower story is stone, the upper crenelatted stories are made of brick

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The crown of Palazzo Publico

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Palazzo Publico and Torre del Mangia.

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Cappella di Piazza.

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Fresco in the palace.

San Gimignano
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San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Within the walls, the buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant Agostino co

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View of the town from the south

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UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Towers in San Gimignano

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Piazza della Cisterna, San Gimignano

Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the A

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A collage of Florence showing the Galleria degli Uffizi (top left), followed by the Palazzo Pitti, a sunset view of the city and the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria

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A wooden model of Florence as it would have probably looked during Roman times, showing the ancient amphitheatre

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The façade of the Cathedral

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Leonardo da Vinci statue outside the Uffizi Gallery.

Illuminated manuscript
–
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders and miniature illustrations. Comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted, islamic manuscripts may be referred to as illuminated, illustrated or painted, though using essentially the same techniques as West

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In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated.

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The decoration of this page from a French Book of Hours, ca.1400, includes a miniature, initials and borders

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The 11th century Tyniec Sacramentary was written with gold on purple background.

Via Francigena
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As such, the route passes through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. The route was known in Italy as the Via Francigena or the Via Romea Francigena, in mediaeval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route for those wishing to visit the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul. In the Middle Ages, Via Francigena was the pi

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Various Via Francigena signposts

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Sign showing the path near Ivrea, Piedmont, Italy.

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The Via Francigena – in France given the Grande Randonnée route number GR145 – crossing the Massif de Saint Thierry, Champagne.

Museo di Capodimonte
–
Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting. It is one of the largest museums in Italy, the vast collection at the museum traces its ori

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Palace of Capodimonte

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Toulouse Altarpiece by Simone Martini. c. 1317

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Crucifixion by Masaccio. c. 1426

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Portrait of Francesco Gonzaga by Andrea Mantegna. c. 1461

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych
–
The Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych is a painting by the Italian medieval artist Simone Martini, dating to 1320. Originally placed at the altar of the church of Santa Caterina in Pisa. The work is signed SYMON DE SENIS ME PINXIT in the panel with the Madonna. According to the original convents annals, the polyptych was placed at the altar i

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Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych

Pisa
–
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its tower, the city of over 90,834 residents contains more than 20 other historic churches, several medieval palaces. Much of the architecture was financed from it

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Pisa

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Coat of arms

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Hypothetical map of Pisa in the 5th century AD

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Hypothetical map of Pisa in the 11th century AD

Uffizi
–
The Uffizi Gallery is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, the construction was later continue

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Narrow courtyard between palace's two wings with view toward the Arno.

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View of hallway. The walls were originally covered with tapestries.

Chapel of St. Martin
–
San Martino Chapel is a chapel in the Lower Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, Umbria, central Italy. Commissioned and funded by Cardinal Gentile Partino da Montefiore, it features a cycle of frescoes by Simone Martini, the frescoes are neither dated nor signed, but art historians tend to agree in identifying Martini as their author, based on sty

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Detail of the Investiture of St. Martin as a Knight.

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St. Martin Sharing the Mantle with a Poor

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi
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The basilica is one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. With its accompanying friary, Sacro Convento, the basilica is a landmark to those approaching Assisi. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000, the interior of the Upper Church is an important early example of the Gothic style in Italy. The range and quali

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The Lower and Upper basilicas and the portico, as seen from the Lower Plaza of St. Francis.

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Basilica, as seen from the valley below.

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Nave of the upper basilica.

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Crucifixion by Cimabue

Laura de Noves
–
Laura de Noves was the wife of Count Hugues de Sade. She could be the Laura that the Humanist poet Francesco Petrarch wrote about extensively, however, Laura had a great influence on Petrarchs life and lyrics. The historical information on Laura is meager at best, born six years after Petrarch in 1310 in Avignon, she was the daughter of a knight, A

1.
Laura de Noves

Avignon Papacy
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The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon rather than in Rome. The situation arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown, Clement declined to move to Rome, remaining in France, and in 1309, he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for t

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Map of the city of Rome, showing an allegorical figure of Rome as a widow in black mourning the Avignon Papacy

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The Papal palace in Avignon, France.

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Clement V in a later engraving

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John XXII

Pisa Polyptych
–
The Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych is a painting by the Italian medieval artist Simone Martini, dating to 1320. Originally placed at the altar of the church of Santa Caterina in Pisa. The work is signed SYMON DE SENIS ME PINXIT in the panel with the Madonna. According to the original convents annals, the polyptych was placed at the altar i

1.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych

Agostino Novello
–
The Blessed Agostino Novello, also known as Augustine of Tarano, originally Matteo Di Termini, was an Italian religious figure. He was born in the first half of the 13th century, at Termini Imerese, as that village was near Palermo, he is sometimes called Panormitano. The Augustinians believe he was born at Tarano. On entering religion he changed h

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Blessed Augustine Novello

Memmo di Filippuccio
–
Memmo di Filippuccio was a 14th-century painter from Siena, Italy. Memmo di Filippuccio is mentioned in the records as painting several works at the Town Hall of San Gimignano in 1303. The frescoed decorations are in the chamber and show scenes of everyday life. The best known of the frescos are two scenes of domestic bliss and these frescos are am

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Madonna and Christ Child, National Museum of San Matteo, Pisa

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Scenes of Married Life, Palazzo del Podestà, San Gimignano

Il Canzoniere
–
Il Canzoniere, also known as the Rime Sparse, but originally titled Rerum vulgarium fragmenta, is a collection of poems by the Italian humanist, poet, and writer Petrarch. Though the majority of Petrarchs output was in Latin, the Canzoniere was written in the vernacular, of its 366 poems, the vast majority are in sonnet form, though the sequence co

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After printing, early versions of the Canzoniere were illuminated with pictures.

Africa (Petrarch)
–
Africa is an epic poem in Latin hexameters by the 14th century Italian poet Petrarch. Africa and De viris illustribus were partially inspired by Petrarchs visit to Rome in 1337 and it seems very likely that the inspirational vision of the Eternal City must have been the immediate spur to the design of the Africa and probably De viris illustribus as

De Viris Illustribus (Petrarch)
–
De viris illustribus is an unfinished collection of biographies, written in Latin, by the 14th century Italian author Francesco Petrarca. These biographies are a set of Lives similar in idea to Plutarchs Parallel Lives, the works were unfinished however he was famous enough for these and other works to receive two invitations to be crowned poet lau

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1476 table of contents of Petrarch's Illustrious Romans, beginning with Romulus and ending with Trajan.

De remediis utriusque fortunae
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De remediis utriusque fortunae is a collection of 254 Latin dialogues written by the humanist Francesco Petrarca, commonly known as Petrarch. The dialogues, completed towards the end of Petrarchs life, are treasure-chests of wisdom and they display remarkably lucid ideas that are cogently expressed. Drawing on classical sources, Petrarch expounded

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Phisicke Against Fortune book cover of 1579

De vita solitaria
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De vita solitaria is a philosophical treatise composed in Latin and written between 1346 and 1356 by Italian Renaissance humanist Petrarch. It constitutes an apology of solitude dedicated to his friend Philippe de Cabassoles, solitude is necessary for a life of contemplation, for both saints and philosophers. Petrarch merged the medieval interest i

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Cover for a 1600 edition of De Vita solitaria

Epistolae familiares
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Epistolae familiares is the title of a collection of letters of Petrarch which he edited during his lifetime. He originally called the collection Epistolarum mearum ad diversos liber but this was shortened to the current title. Petrarch discovered the text of Cicero’s letters in 1345, which gave him the idea to collect his own sets of letters and i

Ascent of Mont Ventoux
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The Italian poet Petrarch wrote about his ascent of Mont Ventoux on 26 April 1336 in a well-known letter published as one of his Epistolae familiares. In this letter, written around 1350, Petrarch claimed to be the first person since antiquity to have climbed a mountain for the view. Although the historical accuracy of his account has been question

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View of Mont Ventoux from Mirabel-aux-Baronnies

Liber sine nomine
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The Liber sine nomine is a collection of nineteen personal letters written in Latin by the fourteenth century Italian poet and Renaissance humanist Petrarch. The letters being harshly critical of the Avignon papacy, they were withheld from the collection of his Epistolae familiares. In this fashion, Petrarch reasoned, a reader could throw away this

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volume without a title which consists of 19 letters

Secretum (book)
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Secretum is a trilogy of dialogues in Latin written by Petrarch sometime from 1347 to 1353, in which he examines his faith with the help of Saint Augustine, and in the presence of The Lady Truth. Secretum was not circulated until some time after Petrarchs death, and was meant to be a means of self-examination more than a work to be published. The d

Philippe de Cabassoles
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Philippe de Cabassole or Philippe de Cabassoles, the Bishop of Cavaillon, Seigneur of Vaucluse, was the great protector of Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarch. Philippe was educated by the clegy of Cavaillon and was made Canon of the chapter of Cavaillon on 22 March 1328. He next was promoted to archdeacon on 26 August 1330 and he then took a posit

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Philippe de Cabassoles

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Philippe de Cabassole's castle ruins

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Portrait of Petrarch painted in 1376

Ser Petracco
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Ser Petracco was the father to the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch. His father was Ser Parenzo, son of Ser Garzo who reputedly lived to be 100 and they all were notaries public, the same office that Ser Petracco held in Florence. The family did have a property in Florence. His wife’s name was Eletta Canigiani, the mother to Petrarch, petrarch’s dau

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The family house in Arezzo where Petrarch was born in 1304

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Courtyard of the house of Ser Petracco

Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro
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Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro OESA was an Augustinian monk who was at one time Petrarchs confessor, and who taught Boccaccio at the beginning of his education in the humanities. He was Bishop of Monopoli in Apulia and he was surnamed, not uncommonly for the trecento, for the town in which he was born, now Sansepolcro in Tuscany. His family name was

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Roofs of Sansepolcro

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Sansepolcro church

Giovanni Boccaccio
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Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Boccaccio wrote a number of works, including The Decameron. The details of Boccaccios birth are uncertain and he was born in Florence or in a village near Certaldo where his family was from. He was the son of Florentine merchant Boccacc

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Giovanni Boccaccio

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Boccaccio's statue in Uffizi

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Giovanni Boccaccio and Florentines who have fled from the plague

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Circes: illustration of one of the women featured the 1374 biographies of 106 famous women, De Claris Mulieribus, by Boccaccio – from a German translation of 1541

Dante Alighieri
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Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages, the majority of poetry was written in Latin. In De vulgari eloquentia, however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature, as a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy. In

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Profile portrait of Dante, by Sandro Botticelli

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Portrait of Dante, from a fresco in the Palazzo dei Giudici, Florence

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National Library of Australia as viewed from Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra

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The original National Library building on Kings Avenue, Canberra, was designed by Edward Henderson. Originally intended to be several wings, only one wing was completed and was demolished in 1968. Now the site of the Edmund Barton Building.

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As the logos on the window show, the RKD shares the same building located at Den Haag Centraal with the National Archives, the Nederlands Letterkundig Museum (nl) (LM), the Huygens ING, the Netherlands Music Institute (NMI) and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek.